“I’m the guy who wrote you a few weeks ago after seeing Ed Zwick‘s Blood Diamond, and I wanted to add that I actually think the film has a good chance of being pretty successful,” reader John Robie wrote earlier today. “Although I wasn’t very high on it, it very well could get good word-of-mouth from people who will be persuaded into thinking it’s an important film.
“Blood Diamond is in the realm of The Last Samurai, which had a lot of support from mainstream filmgoers. A lot of my friends who don’t go to movies often and who tend to stay away from critical hits like Babel really liked Samurai a lot. Some even list it as one of their favorite films. I know, I know — I need to stop hanging with people like that.
“Point is, Zwick knows how to make movies that average folks think are works of art. Blood Diamond is a film for people who were bored by The Constant Gardener or preferred Crash over Magnolia. Not a bad film by any means — just not as powerful as it should have been. I don’t think it’ll be nominated for any awards, but I can definitely see people going to see it and recommending it to their friends.”

I was bored by “The Constant Gardener,” but also by “Crash” (and loved “Magnolia”). Where do I fit in?
Zwick is still coasting with my good will for “Glory,” incidentally. I keep hoping he’ll make something that good again.

p.Vice

“movies that average folks think are works of art.”
Sounds like this is going to be heading for Jeffrey’s best of the year list.

I was not only bored by The Constant Gardener, I hated it, too!
So I’ll echo Josh Massey’s sentiments.

OddDuck

p.Vice, why the ashhole post? It wasn’t even that funny, just meanspirited and, well, asshole-ish. While there are plenty of times when people, including Wells, need to be called on shit, it’s annoying useless “I think I’m being clever in this putdown” lines like yours that really just serve to waste space. You’re a dick.

dangovich

Ed Zwick=Hack.

D.Z.

Blood Diamond will not even come close to Last Samurai, because: 1)No one buys Leo as a merc, 2) The Last Samurai was basically an R-rated version of Shogun, not a socially relevant drama, and 3)Tom Cruise, even at his least popular, can easily bring them in to the box office better than Leo.

But I have to say this, CRASH WAS A BETTER FILM THAN MAGNOLIA!!!! I love all the big critical hits, too, but dammit — Magnolia was a self-conscious, self-important overbloated tit of a film meant for “cinephiles” to sit around and bore their friends over. Some may say the same about CRASH, but at least I could relate to that one. Raining frogs and all, Magnolia is quite possibly one of the most overrated films of all time. If Blood Diamond is anywhere near Crash, I won’t find it hard to sit through at least.

NYCBusybody

I thought Magnolia was fairly well done, but The Constant Gardner was a hideous bore, so who knows.
And yes, I think Jeff gets a huge hard-on for anything that speaks ill of the average Joe, or that the average Joe wouldn’t like. He’s an elitist through and through.
And thanks, D.Z., for reminding me of Shogun. *full body shudder* Watching “Inglese” Richard Chamberlain boldly shout “Wakarimas…EN!” is one of the lowlights of my entertainment-watching career.